North Schuylkill shuts out Northern Lehigh
It was a fitting end to a cold Friday night in Slatington for North Schuylkill when lineman Steven Davis picked off a pass and returned it 64 yards for a touchdown with 20 seconds left.
The senior’s catch and rumble completed a dominant 31-0 performance by coach Wally Hall’s defense against previously unbeaten Northern Lehigh in a battle of returning District 11 champions.
Trevor Minalda threw for two touchdowns and ran for a third as his evolution as a first-year starting quarterback took leaps forward, but the Spartans’ defense was the story.
“The difference was that they whooped us up front,” Bulldogs coach Joe Tout said. “That’s the first time that’s happened to us this year.”
Northern Lehigh had drives in each half that moved well into North Schuylkill territory, but the Spartans did not allow the Bulldogs to get in the red zone.
Jared Tinari rushed for 136 yards and Minalda threw for 143 against a good Northern Lehigh defense. Minaldi started 2 for 8 for 13 yards and an interception. The junior completed his final 10 passes.
“I think every team looks to improve weekly,” North Schuylkill coach Wally Hall said. “And Trevor has been doing that offensively. He’s starting to know our offense and he’s definitely seeing the field a lot better.”
North Schuylkill’s defense allowed only 153 total yards and turned two Northern Lehigh turnovers into 10 points.
A Jack Dean interception on the sixth play of the game set up a Gavin Mentzer 24-yard field goal.
Defense was the story for much of the first half. Nick Frame intercepted a Minalda pass to keep it at 3-0.
But the Spartans drove 92 yards in 14 plays, capped by Minalda’s perfectly thrown 15-yard TD pass to Dean with 1:17 left in the second quarter.
“That was a big momentum killer,” Tout said. “I thought we had it. I thought we had a good push there. That kind of hurt us after that.
“Offensively, we put together a couple good drives against them but it just wasn’t enough. They are good.”
Northern Lehigh had a golden opportunity on its first drive of the second half, driving to the North Schuylkill 27. But the Spartans stopped the Bulldogs on fourthand-1.
Six plays later, Minalda hit Zander McElhenny in stride on a deep crossing route that turned into a 54-yard touchdown.
“We’re playing a tough schedule,” Tout said. “This will make us better when it comes time to get to where we’d like to be.”
Bulldogs’ big void
Northern Lehigh was without two-way starter Izaiah Ramos. The senior missed a game for the second time in three weeks with an injury. This one will keep him out several more weeks.
Ramos’ absence limited what the Bulldogs could do to stretch the Spartans’ defense. Hall’s bunch took advantage by playing man to man in the secondary and letting the first two levels dominate the line of scrimmage.
“It changes things,” Tout said of Ramos’ absence. “We don’t know when, maybe we’re thinking the Palmerton game or after. That’s our speed guy. They were better. I thought he would have been the fastest player on the field tonight. That was the one thing we had that we were excited about.”
Ramos is averaging 6.3 yards per carry and has five rushing TDs. He also has seven catches, including one for a score, and made eight tackles in three games on defense.
Northern Lehigh graduated its speed trio from last year’s district Class 2A title team — Matt Frame, Brett Misera and Trevor Amorim.
Nick Frame, Matt’s brother, also is fast and athletic. But North Schuylkill kept constant pressure on him throughout the game. He only broke containment a few times.
Frame was hit as he was attempting his final pass. Davis ran under the pop-up, secured it and raced down the North Schuylkill sideline, made one cut inside the 5-yard line and scored to the delight of the Spartans fans who made the 65-minute drive.
Up next
Northern Lehigh (4-1) visits Salisbury (0-5) at 7 p.m. Friday. North Schuylkill (4-1) travels to Notre Dame-Green Pond (4-1), also at 7 Friday. The Crusaders beat Palmerton 55-18 for their third consecutive victory.